Koori Mail

Shibasaki steels himself for 'Rite of Passage' showdown
Thursday Island’s Ryan Shibasaki will make his professional boxing debut in Townsville against Mark Snook for the North Queensland lightweight belt on September 8.
The pro/amateur event will be held at the Townsville Entertainment Centre and has been dubbed the “Rite of Passage to Adult” tournament.
... The main pro bout will pit Townsville’s James Bishop against South Korean Deok No Yun and a big crowd is expected.
Shibasaki has an impressive amateur boxing record and when he lived in Townsville trained under trainer, and promoter, Dennis Clancy with the Hawks Club.
When he moved to TI early last year, Shibasaki formed the Zenadth Kes Boxing Club and its fighters have travelled to Cairns and other places for bouts.
There will be four pro fights and at least seven amateur bouts with boxers including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders from around the north.
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Digby revisits his memories of childhood in his new exhibition
Albert (Digby) Moran’s life is divided into two parts, before he started painting, and after.
Uncle Digby is holding a major solo exhibition at Lismore Regional Gallery, northern NSW, until October 14.
... Through Growing up on The Island, Uncle Digby is seeking new ways to express his place within Bundjalung land.
Digby was born in Ballina and raised on Cabbage Tree Island. His father was Dungutti and his mother Bundjalung. He worked in agriculture and also as a boxer with Jimmy Sharman’s troupe before he turned his hand to painting in 1991, after doing a TAFE course.
The work in this exhibition is strongly linked to Uncle Digby’s childhood and the happy memories with his close and loving family: playing in the sand and on the river banks, swimming and fishing.
“Sometimes someone comes in to the studio and tells me I’ve been laughing while I’m painting,” he said. “I don't realise, but it’s because I’m thinking about some memory. Like when I was little and my brothers would put me in our little boat and they’d have a rope and they’d push me out into the river then pull me back in again, over and over, with me laughing so much and getting right up on the back of the boat."
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Hagen blasts Blaze to glory
Courtney Hagen led her side with a ‘Desert Blaze of glory’ after smashing a massive six to win the NT Women’s T20 Strike League title.
The captain of the Queensland side at the national Indigenous cricket championships, Hagen’s six helped topple defending champions Northern Tide in a nailbiter tiebreaker.... Hagen’s Desert Blaze levelled the four-match series with the Tide 2-2, despite having a 2-0 series lead.
Clawing back a win in game three, Hagen strode to the crease in game four with her side precariously placed at 2- 43, upon which she made an immediate impact, smashing 10 boundaries in her innings of 81 off only 49 balls to set Northern Tide an impressive target of 185 to win but which proved too much of a task, the series now level.
To break the deadlock, the rules called for a ‘super over’, in which Tide made 10. Enter our hero Hagen. Two fours in a row was followed by a boundary-clearer and absolute delight for her and her teammates.
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Yothu Yindi head for the east coast
Yothu Yindi and The Treaty Project are headed to Brisbane and Lismore next month, with founding members of the band joined by fresh young faces.
Founding Yothu Yindi mambers Witiyana Marika, Stu Kellaway and Kevin Malngay Yunupingu will be joined on stage at Brisbane Festival by former bandmates Shellie Morris and Ben Hakalitz alongside Dr M. Yunupingu’s daughter Dhapanbal, Mr Marika’s son Yirrmal, Mr Kellaway’s son Roy Kellaway, Kamahi Djo...rdon King, Yirrnga Yunupingu, Yimila Gurruwiwi, Ania Reynolds and Gavin Campbell.
Gavin Campbell, who spearheaded the Filthy Lucre remix of Treaty in 1992, said it has been a “mindblowing’”experience working with the founding members of the band as well as their children.
“I saw Yirrmal play a few years ago and Dhapanbal got up on stage with him and I thought, ‘That’s the future,’” he told the Koori Mail.
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Naru surf crew gathers at Coffs for first event
More than 50 senior surfers and 34 grommets braved the chill winds and ice-cold waters off Park Beach at Coffs Harbour, in NSW, in July.
It was the first Naru Surf Gathering for like-minded souls of longboarders and senior men and women, masters and juniors, together with Indigenous health professionals and clothing designers, which coincided with the beginning of NAIDOC Week.
... Galambila Aboriginal Health Service were on hand with health assessments for participants and spectators, and Ready Mob engaged with people about the folly of smoking.
Around 300 people turned up to watch the action. Bullfrog Designs, Walkabout Clothing and Garuwa Clothing added a colourful display with their latest offerings.
The day raised around $2000 that went equally to local women’s elders group Manam- Girrilma Guyunggan and the Joe Williams Enemy Within Foundation.
Organisers were heartened by the turnout and already there are plans to make it an annual event.
Results Open men’s - 1st Russ Molony 2nd Byron Simon 3rd Jarwin Carey 4th John Craig
Open women’s - 1st Charli Pell 2nd Jasmine McCorquodale 3rd Jalaan Slabb 4th Jarrah Clarke
Masters - 1st Joel Slabb 2nd John Laurie 3rd Rhys Collins 4th David McInally
Longboards - 1st Rhys Collins 2nd Tom Avery 3rd Jamie Archibald 4th Amber Hamer
Junior boys - 1st Hunter Winkler 2nd Brandon Mercy 3rd Cooper McInally 4th Braith Wilson
Pictures: ST Images
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Students gather for a quick moot
It can be nerve wracking standing up in a court room in front of a judge and trying to persuade Your Honour to listen to your argument.
But that’s what 11 Indigenous law students signed up for in the fourth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students’ Moot held recently at the Federal Court of Australia in Brisbane.
... A moot is a mock court proceeding where students pretend to argue a legal case.
This year, students from Bond University, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology and University of Queensland competed against each other in rounds.
The University of Queensland was the overall winner, but finalist Talhia Cohen-Duke from the Bond University team grabbed the judge’s attention with her use of cultural knowledge in arguments for her client.
The Kamilaroi/Dunghutti woman raised the importance of Indigenous language as relevant and decisive in the case being argued.
“It was about the breakdown of a business relationship between Indigenous parties over something slanderous and I emphasised, because we have such an oral language, that how Talhia Cohen-Duke and Giselle Kilner-Parmenter from Bond University present their case at the moot things are said added weight,” Ms Cohen-Duke said. “While my team didn’t win, it has definitely given me a lot more confidence that I can compete in a legal setting and talk the legal talk without compromising my own language.”
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IMP squad takes up the baton in City2Surf
The biggest fun run in the southern hemisphere grew even bigger when 70 Indigenous runners from across Australia took part in the annual City2Surf in Sydney.
Among them were the 11 runners of the Indigenous Marathon Project, who use the iconic run as part of their training for the New York City Marathon in November.
... And it was a 14km stretch that didn’t disappoint. Under sunny and fresh conditions, the runners faced their steepest challenge yet, taking on the infamous Heartbreak Hill and the knee-jarring descent to beautiful Bondi Beach.
The first IMP runner to cross the finish line was Dubbo student John Hill, who headed straight into the Bondi surf.
And there was no need for him to bother with a change of clothes – clad in a pair of Jack Wilson “Deadly Ninja” budgie smugglers, he was ready to make the most of a weekend by the ocean.
Rikki Wilson, of Adelaide, said she went into the run with a good head space.
“I felt really confident and positive,” she said.
“It was easier than I thought because I’d built it up to be much worse. I was determined to do my best and I tapped into energy of the crowd.”
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A mother's boy lost in the justice system
A PETITION for mercy has been lodged on behalf of an Aboriginal man jailed for 20 years for a murder he did not physically commit. But Zak Grieve is likely to be waiting for quite a while longer before he gets an answer from the Northern Territory Government.
Zak Grieve has been in prison since October 27, 2011, serving a life sentence with a non-parole period of 20 years for the murder of Raffaeli Niceforo, who was killed in his Kath...erine home by Chris Malyschko and Darren Halfpenny.
Malyschko was found to have planned the murder following extreme domestic violence and death threats from Niceforo towards Malyschko’s mother, Bronwyn Buttery.
A friend of Malyschko’s, Grieve initially agreed to participate in the murder. Despite later explaining he was unable to participate and withdrawing from the plan, Grieve was still found guilty of murder and sentenced under NT mandatory sentencing laws.
NT chief minister Michael Gunner told the ABC a year ago that the mandatory sentencing for murder in the NT had created anomalies in the justice system, and “that seemed to apply in the Zak Grieve case”.
Mr Gunner said at that time that the NT Government was “currently reviewing its mandatory sentencing laws” and that his Government was taking a “serious look at the Zak Grieve case”.
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Permission for photo is from the documentary The Queen & Zak Grieve, produced by In Films for The Australian, with production funding from Screen Australia, in association with Create NSW.
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‪The 7th Indigenous Women’s Leadership Summit commenced yesterday in Sydney, with a pre-summit workshop.
The Summit will run from today, until Friday and will focus on pioneering pathways with a number of Indigenous female leaders presenting.
#IndigenousWomen‬

FORMER prime minister Tony Abbott – who infamously proclaimed himself 'Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs' and said Aboriginal people living in remote communities were making a 'lifestyle choice' – has accepted an offer to become Scott Morrison's special envoy on Indigenous affairs, saying school attendance and performance will be his major focus. Mr Abbott has written to the new prime minister accepting the job, but has made a number of recommendations, The Daily Telegrap...h reported today. "What I expect to be asked to do is to make recommendations on how we can improve remote area education, in particular, how we can improve attendance rates and school performance because this is the absolute key to a better future for indigenous kids and this is the key to reconciliation," he told the paper. National Congress of Australia's First Peoples co-chair Jackie Huggins said, as prime minister, Mr Abbott had a "history of supporting harmful, paternalistic policies relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs". "Mr Abbott's sole accomplishment was robbing our peoples of our right to self-determination," Dr Huggins said. WA Labor Senator Pat Dodson also slammed the appointment. "First Nations people have been asking to have a voice where their views are put forward themselves rather than by some sort of intermediary whose record, quite frankly, is appalling," he said.
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Scorpions still with a sting in their tail
A FIRST-HALF blitz set up the Lockhart River Scorpions to beat the West Coast Brumbies 32-16 in the grand final of the Cape Cluster rugby league competition at Weipa.
The decider was held under lights in front of a large crowd at Andoom Oval on August 4.
... The Wayne Butcher-coached Scorpions led 20-6 at half time and held sway throughout the second half.
It was a fast-flowing final and featured some heavy contact up the middle of the ruck.
After half-time, the Brumbies showed some spark with Eli Tabuai and Ryan Madua leading the way and closed the gap with 10 minutes remaining.
The Scorpions responded well, kicking to the corners and applying pressure in defence that led the Brumbies into costly handling errors.
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Indigenous All Stars to shine again... in Melbourne!
The NRL's Indigenous All Stars will play in the Southern capital in February next year, with a new opponent – Maori All Stars!
The news of the game was announced last week, and revealed in our latest edition.
... It will be the first time the game will visit Melbourne after being held in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Newcastle previously.
In fact, it will be the first Indigenous All Stars professional men's football match to be played in Melbourne.
Photo: Dane Gagai (left), Jack Bird and Kyle Turner line up in Newcastle ahead of the 2017 All Stars match. (Getty Images)
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Water contamination fears are still going
An expansion of the McArthur River mine at Borroloola has been approved by the Northern Territory Government despite opposition from local Aboriginal people.
Residents of the Garawa towncamps near the mining town protested outside the Sydney headquarters of the multinational mining company Glencore recently, accusing the miner of poisoning the region.
... Garrwa Elder Nancy McDinny said recent water contamination had again raised fears that the water in the area is polluted.
“We don’t know why some of our people are passing away. We don’t know if it’s from the water in the tap. It’s contaminated. They’re killing our people.
“We want to keep the country alive for the children. We want Glencore to clean that water,” Ms McDinny said. Scotty McDinny, a Garrwa and Yanyuwa man, said residents wanted their voices heard across the country.
“We got a letter on April 19 saying the water was contaminated. We got told we’ve gotta let the water run for five minutes before you get a cup of water then you drink it. We don’tknow about how long the water was poisoned for,” he said.
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Yawuru man and Labor Senator Pat Dodson has slammed new Prime Minister Scott Morrison for offering former Prime Minister Tony Abbott a position as a 'special envoy for Indigenous affairs'. "Labor is seriously concerned about appointing the ex-self-appointed ‘Prime Minister for Indigenous affairs’ to the role of ‘envoy,’ given his ignorant, hopeless and frankly offensive track record on Indigenous issues," Senator Dodson said. "As Prime Minister, he cut over $500 million from Indigenous programs in the 2014 federal budget. "And who can forget his profoundly offensive comments in 2015, claiming that people living in remote communities without adequate services were making a 'lifestyle choice' while defending his government’s decision to close up to 150 remote communities?" Mr Abbott is said to be considering the role.

Porter, Stepto show true Spirit in Japan
When Mexico elected to walk Australia’s Stacey Porter to first base at the women’s softball world championships last week, it was an acknowledgement of her being rated as one of the best hitters in the world, and probably self- preservation.
But the tactic backfired. With scores tied 1-1, walking Porter to first set in motion a last-gasp 1-2 win for the Spirit, elimination of Mexico, and a play-off for bronze against Canada.
... Alas, the bronze- chance qualifier was a blowout, Canada’s way, 0- 12, but not before fellow Spirit, teenager Tarni Stepto, gave a glimpse of the future of Australian women’s softball when she shut down the Canadians over the final 1.2 innings.
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Knox enters the music hall of fame
GOMEROI country music legend Roger Knox has been inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) Hall of Fame.
His work in the music industry, spanning over three decades, was recognised in Darwin this month.
... Mr Knox said he’s honoured to be inducted into the NIMA Hall of Fame alongside some of his musical heroes.
“It’s really exciting,” he told the Koori Mail. “It’s a real honour to be inducted. It’s especially exciting be up there alongside people who I looked up to, like Kutcha Edwards and Uncle Seaman Dan.”
Mr Knox said he grew up surrounded by music, singing in the church at Toomelah, in western NSW.
“My grandmother taught at the Sunday school,” he said. “I grew up singing in the church and I enjoyed it. My mother used to sing too and we looked forward to the days we were going to church. Those old songs have stuck with me over the years and still today if I’ve had a bad day I’ll pick up the guitar and sing an old gospel song to cheer myself up.”
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All are stars in Top End netball
EIGHTEEN teams and hundreds of eager, experienced and first-time netballers took to the courts in Darwin for the second NT Indigenous netball carnival at Marrara.
A mix of Top End, central Australian and Western Australian teams played a round-robin series of games over three days of competition.
... Alice Springs and Top End teams across the divisions shared in winning four of the five division finals. Bouyed by increasing participation, Netball NT is looking further ahead in a move to build on interest in the sport.
Results 13-and-under: Top End Indigenous All Stars 12 d Ngukurr Netball Team 10. Rising Star: Siehanna Barcley (Macfarlane Diamonds)
15-and-under: Alice Springs Indigenous All Stars 14 d TEIAS 9. Rising Star: Nikayah Scott (Halls Creek Starlets)
17-and-under: ASIAS 22 d TEIAS 6. Rising Star: Marzanna Churchill (Top End Indigenous All Stars)
Mixed: Us Mob 15 d Black Magic 11. MVP: Jaydin Cole (Black Magic)
Open: TEIAS 27 d Us Mob 13. MVP: Darcy Marshall (Tiddas) Teams
13-and-under: Ngukurr, Darwin Eagles, MacFarlane Diamonds, Palmerston Crocs, TEIAS. 15-and-under: Halls Creek Starlets, ASIAS, TEIAS. 17-and-under: ASIAS, TEIAS. Open: Sunrise, Darwin Eagles, Us Mob, Tiddas, TEIAS. Mixed: Us Mob, Black Magic.
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Stories sing with pride
YOLNGU musicians the late Dr G Yunupingu and rising star Baker Boy were major winners at the 15th
National Indigenous Music Awards last week.
... The awards were celebrated with a stunning concert under the stars at Darwin’s Amphitheatre with Gurrumul and Baker Boy the night’s big winners. Dr G was honoured as Artist of the Year, his posthumous masterpiece Djarimirri (Child of The Rainbow) picked up Album of the Year and its title track was crowned Song of the Year.
Denzal Baker aka Baker Boy was the night’s other big winner, taking home Video of the Year for his mainstream crossover hit Marryuna and Best New Talent. His closing performance was a crowd favourite with family and friends joining him on stage for a variety of traditional and rap/hip hop dance.
The night also featured the 24-piece Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir being honoured with the Special Achievement Award.
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